Almost a Priestess…

This weekend was the last training weekend of our two year journey to become Priestesses of Brighid. It’s gone so fast and yet as I sat in circle with my sisters for the last time before our initiation weekend in January, I was realising how much we’ve all changed, and how far we’ve come.

I started out on the training for two reasons; firstly because it was whispered to me by a Priestess at a Pagan Federation ritual, ‘You are Her priestess, She wants you to seek out others who know Her’, which struck me as the sort of unequivocal urging that should probably be heeded; and secondly because I really wanted to work with a circle of women. I’m told this is where magic happens, and I was keen to find out for myself.

And many moments have really been magical. The very first weekend we all sat making Bridie dolls for Imbolc in the afternoon, working with our hands while sharing our stories, somehow able to share far more openly with a group of (then) strangers than you might expect, maybe because our eyes were focused on our creative work and also because the atmosphere of non-judgment was in place right from the beginning. There was something that felt so ancestral about that scenario, women working together and bonding in shared discussion, and then going out onto the land of Avalon to connect with the sacred places.

The first year of the training was all about making connections really, with the seasonal festivals, with our own sense of power-from-within, with the Goddess and the land, with who we are and want to be – Marion, who leads the training, suggested we try dressing more sensuously for a week over Beltane, and I loved it so much I never stopped, and drumming in circle on the land spoke to a deep part of my spirit…

At the end of the first year we dedicated as daughters of Brighid, the then newly initiated second years helping with our ceremony in their first act as new priestesses, there’s a wonderful circular feeling of being in the position now to do the same for the next group of first years in the chain in a couple of months. I remember how confident the women in the year before us seemed, they’d clearly leveled up from where we were, but this weekend watching my sisters call in and embody the Goddess, I see the same change in us, and it’s beautiful.

The second year has been all about service; creating ritual, soul midwifery, non-violent communication, healing and herbs for those that are so inclined. I will always be grateful to Marion for gently but firmly pushing me out of my comfort zones as the homework required us to run open rituals and a workshop, something I would perhaps never otherwise have taken the plunge to do, and in the process realise I was capable of doing. And despite all the cries of horror when we were first told what we needed to do, every one of us has come back to circle filled with enthusiasm for how much they enjoyed their experiences, and you can see everyone’s confidence grow at every meeting.

I’m really looking forward to my initiation, I’ve been a solitary Pagan for a very long time, and self dedicated many years ago, but there is something really powerful about group ceremony and the crossing of a threshold in ritual. I’m excited to step into the role of priestess and to spread more magick in the world, in any way I can…

If you feel inspired then here is the website with the information about Marion’s Priestess of Brighid training courses: https://www.marionbrigantia.com/priestess-brighid-training-avalon?fbclid=IwAR0Z3Xuhw2aJQevpZbIjaipe1s77qzigyQqjffoGh445oCL2hZJPgqjDoVs